Trunk floor replacement

[slantscamp]

Hey guys. Sooo I joined this great site a few years back when I bought my charger. Then life got a little busy. (bought a house, had a kid). Long story short, I'm finally getting to my charger. I need to replace the trunk floor and have a couple of questions. Before I cut the entire trunk floor out. Should I put the car on jackstands so the leaf springs are not putting pressure on the frame rails? My second question is a how would you fix it question.  The previous owner cut part the lip off part of the frame rails. About 15" on the inside lip. I was thinking I could just weld a new lip on, but it may be stronger if I section in a peice that's bent at a 90* angle weld that in. Hopefully that makes sense. Thanks everyone. I look forward to sharing pictures and finally getting some work done to my charger. Oh and is there an easy way to post pictures from my iPhone?

[slantscamp]

Lets see if this works.

[slantscamp]

Ok, so here are the pictures of the frame rails with the cut off lips. The rails are super solid, there is no corrosion, so I would like to repair them, I just wanted a second opinion on how you guys would approach the repair. Thanks in advance for any advice.

[hemi-hampton]

Why did you cut off the top lip of the frame rails? That's a big NO NO


OK, Just reread where you say previous owner did that. All I can say is in here you ask 4 different people & you'll get 4 different anwsers/opinions. So I'll let them answer

[slantscamp]

It wasnt me, the previous owner thought he was "fixing" the rust by cutting it out and screwing down a large piece of sheet metal. I didnt realize the tops were cut untill i unscrewed the sheet metal patch. I wish the guy would have just left the rusty trunk floor.

[hemi-hampton]

I was modifying/fixing my post when you responded so quick, as I was modifying. LEON


P.S. For that reason is why it's always best to let a professional tackle this type of work.

[slantscamp]

Thanks Leon. I was really bummed when I saw that. Especially since the car is soo good everywhere else. But whats done is done and all I can do is move forward. My son is my motivation to get the charger on the road again. He loves going out in the garage to sit in it and make car noises.

[469 runner]

Those frame rails can be fixed and look like it was never messed with.  What I would do is buy reproduction frame rails, or find good used ones and section in just below the 90 degree bend.  Then it would be easy to smooth out the weld to be undetectable once finished.  This would be best done with the load off the suspension.

[slantscamp]

Thanks. That's what I was thinking. It will be easier to clean up the welds. And no one will ever know.

[hemi-hampton]

I would just buy some sheet metal, Cut & bend it myself. put the overlapping metal down into the inside of frame rail. tack inside frame rail with some small spot welds to hold it into place. But before doing this make sure metal inside frame to be overlapped is cleaned to bare metal then sprayed with Weld through primer (I use aerosol can usually silver in color) Use weldthrough primer on both sides of metal that are going to be sandwiched together. You might want some Vise grips holding it into place while doing this welding. Sometimes I just use screws & then just weld up the little screw holes when done. After inside is tacked weld a bead on outside, but only like a spot every few inches to keep heat down & from warping it, cooling with air from blow gun on your airhose after each weld to also help prevent warping. after you got a small spot weld like every inch apart, connect the 2 spot welds by welding a continuois weld about 1 inch, cool with air, then rotate to other end & do the same thing until all the spots are connected & done. Grinds welds & your done. before welding trunk floor into place coat inside frame rails with some kind of rust inhibitor. LEON.

[Mike DC]

What hemi-hampton said.  I wouldn't buy any repro framerails just for those small pieces you need.   

[Troy]

Or anyone with a rusted frame rail probably still has the top in good condition. Buy cut off pieces from used rails (every B-body will have those). Making them from scratch assumes you know the shape. Although it's not hard to guess! They're on the inside and will be hidden by the gas tank so they don't have to be perfect.

Troy